


there are no saints hanging from our family tree

by girlsarewolves



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Cults, F/M, Gen, Implied animal abuse, Implied/Referenced Incest, POV Female Character, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-18 23:13:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4723865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is something wrong in her, something that makes her turn a blind eye to his bloody hands and the way he doesn't flinch (care) when animals die.</p>
<p>How can she judge him when she herself is worthy of judgment?</p>
            </blockquote>





	there are no saints hanging from our family tree

**Author's Note:**

> Content/Trigger Warnings for implied incest, animal abuse, and very vague allusions to cult sacrifice.

* * *

If she hugs him too tightly, savors the way he feels pressed up close, it's a sin.  
  
If she enjoys his fixation, basks in the way he always looks at (to) her, it's a crime.  
  
There is something wrong in her, something that makes her turn a blind eye to his bloody hands and the way he doesn't flinch (care) when animals die.  
  
How can she judge him when she herself is worthy of judgment?  
  
Father and Mother are already talking of marriage; her mother speaks of it as a not too distant event, perhaps another few years. Father is already talking to others in the church, parents of boys her age or a few years older.  
  
He studies her with Ruben; studies her like Ruben studies his puzzles and his books (and his experiments in the basement).   
  
How can he judge them when he himself is worthy of judgment?  
  
Mother has always turned a blind eye to the weeping families of Elk River and the empty spaces their loved ones once inhabited.   
  
Laura does not want to marry. If she marries, her husband will take her away from home (from Ruben). If she marries, she will be expected to be quiet and blind, but this time for a stranger.  
  
Will this stranger look at her the way her brother does?  
  
Will she savor the way his body feels pressed up close?  
  
(There is blood on the walls of the basement and a pile of pig heads behind the barn. A new deed in her father's hands and more vacant spots on the pews of the church.)  
  
If she hugs her brother too tightly, if she enjoys his fixation; if she calls the adoration in his eyes the only place that feels like home, where she's needed, she's a sinner and a criminal. Laura thinks it's fitting.  
  
Their bloodline (rich blood, old blood) hasn't been one of saints.

**Author's Note:**

> I recently finished my first playthrough of The Evil Within and I love the game, love the characters, and wanted to try branching into fic. I'm fascinated by a lot of the female characters who have such potential but are ultimately left with a lot of mystery and vague clues more than actual insight into their backstories and personalities. I was intrigued by the artbook's reference to 'more than fraternal love' between Laura and Ruben, but on one of Laura's pages, hence, this teeny ficlet. I don't know if I think there was anything sexual, but even though Laura was older, I found the idea that she too might have been a little too fond of her brother and their relationship something worth exploring - but, I'm still so new to this fandom and I'm a little out of practice, I stuck with something short. Feedback is very much appreciated!


End file.
